Rihanna is spending Valentine’s Day in the studio with The Neptunes

So it looks as though we're still quite a ways away until Rihanna drops her ridiculously anticipated ninth album (affectionately dubbed #R9 by her fans). Last week, at the NYFW launch of her Fenty line at Bergdorf Goodman, Rih dodged most of the questions about the forthcoming project, saying "I like to antagonize my fans a little bit. Well, they antagonize me, too! So, they get it right back."

However, she did offer a crumb of intel to The Cut when asked about her Valentine's Day plans: "I'm going to be in the studio. I'm so excited actually. I can't say who I'm working with, but it's somebody I've been wanting to work with him for a long time. Okay, I'll tell you: Pharrell." Days later, on her Instagram story, RIh doubled down on the tease with a photo of a soundboard with "The Neptunes" blazoned on a screen, captioned "back in the STU."

It's the latest development in the long saga behind #R9. What we do know is that Shaggy won't appear on the reggae-inspired album, after turning down an "audition." The project will presumably coincide with the new Peter Berg-directed Rihanna documentary that Amazon recently acquired for $25 million.